Powerful video shows Iranians demonstrating more respect for the US flag than Colin Kaepernick has

As protestors took to the streets of Tehran this weekend calling for the resignation of Ayatollah Khamenei, a video shows thousands of them demonstrating more respect toward the flags of the U.S. and Israeli than, frankly, many Americans, like Colin Kaepernick and others, show to Old Glory.

The 12-second video was shared early Sunday morning on Twitter by an account known as "@mamlekate."

"Today, the crowd in an Iranian university refused to trample US and Israel flag #LoveBeyondFlags. These IR ideologies, like forced hijab, are falling one by one," it reads in a caption.

The video shows thousands of protestors marching in Iran, approaching an American and Israeli flags that appear to be painted on the floor, and most of them carefully walking around them to avoid stepping on the national symbols.

As of the writing of this story, the video has nearly 1 million views, over 2,800 "likes," and has been retweeted over 1,000 times.

Why are Iranians protesting?

As TheBlaze has reported, protesters took to the streets of Tehran on Saturday to demand that Ayatollah Khamenei step down as supreme leader of Iran. The protests come after the Iranian government admitted on Friday that its armed forces "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian commercial plane, killing all 176 people on board.

In others videos posted on social media, protestors can be seen shouting "death to the Islamic Republic," "death to liars," and "Soleimani was a murder, his leader is also a murderer." Reuters also noted the protestors were chanting "death to the dictator," in a direct reference to Khamenei.

What has Kaepernick said about the Iran situation?

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is known for leading the kneeling protest during national anthems in NFL games, has not made any public comments regarding the protests in Iran. However, Kaepernick was quick to attack the U.S. after President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed terrorist Qassem Soleimani.

"There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism," Kaepernick wrote on Jan. 4.

In a separate tweet, the former San Francisco 49ers player added, "America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world."

Kaepernick is no stranger to controversy or making comments that many perceive as anti-American. Last July, Nike famously stopped selling a special Fourth of July edition of its shoes featuring the Betsy Ross flag after Kaepernick reportedly told the company that the flag, with 13 stars, was a racist symbol for slavery.